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GU Board Members & NCAA Compliance

I know this info isn't new to many who post or lurk here, but nonetheless its probably about time to remind all that our conduct as GU Board members vis-a-vie a recruit can inadvertently do serious damage to GU's NCAA compliance. The administrators of the Santa Clara board feature a permanent posting from SCU's compliance officer that is designed to aid their members in keeping from running afoul of the NCAA. Here is a sample of what their compliance officer has written:

"The NCAA does not consider the boosters who run [booster] Web sites to be members of the media. Therefore, when the administrators of these sites contact a prospective student-athlete (an individual who has started classes for the ninth grade), interview them and place that interview on their Web site, Santa Clara is responsible for an impermissible contact. Recently, the University of Kentucky had a situation where some football recruits were interviewed by the administrator of such a Web site, which resulted in a violation for Kentucky. As a result of this violation, the university had to declare both recruits (who eventually signed with Kentucky) ineligible and appeal to the NCAA to have their eligibility reinstated."

"We often also hear comments that because a person is not a graduate of Santa Clara or a season ticket holder, they believe they are not a booster and it is okay for them to contact a prospect. However, part of the NCAA's definition of a booster includes anyone who contacts a recruit on behalf of the institution. Therefore, as soon as someone on a message board e-mails or sends a message out to a recruit, they automatically become a booster and are subject to the NCAA rules prohibiting such contact."

Gonzaga University is responsible for the actions of its alumni, donors and friends. Under NCAA guidelines alumni, donors, and friends are categorized as "representatives of athletic interest". The Gonzaga University athletic department appreciates your continued support and interest, so below is a short reference page for you to use to stay within the rules when backing the Zags. Gonzaga strives for the highest standard of ethical conduct and we value your cooperation in assisting us achieve this goal.

DEFINITIONS TO KNOW

Representative of Athletic Interest is someone who meets any of the following conditions:

Participated in or been a member of an agency or organization promoting the Gonzaga University's intercollegiate athletics program;

Made a donation to any of Gonzaga University athletic programs or department;

Assisted or been requested (by the athletics department staff) to assist in the recruitment of prospective student athletes;

Arranged for or provided summer employment for enrolled student athletes;

Assisted in providing any benefit to enrolled student athletes or their families;

Contacted (by letter, telephone, or in-person) a high school student, grades 9-12, for the purpose of encouraging the student to participate in the Gonzaga University athletics program (no longer permissible in most cases);

Been involved in any way in promoting the Gonzaga University athletics program.

**Once an individual has been identified as an athletics representative, the person retains that identity indefinitely, even if he/she no long contributes to, or is involved with the athletics program.

Huh?

Alright, maybe it's the lawyer in me, but this doesn't make too much sense. How can an institution like GU be held responsible for the actions of non-employees/non-affiliated members? So, simply as an alumnus if I were to call some HS kid and tell him he should go to GU, the school gets fined? What's to stop a bitter fan from USC calling recruits "on behalf of UCLA"?

Alright, maybe it's the lawyer in me, but this doesn't make too much sense. How can an institution like GU be held responsible for the actions of non-employees/non-affiliated members? So, simply as an alumnus if I were to call some HS kid and tell him he should go to GU, the school gets fined?

The school wouldn't be fined, but it would be a secondary violation under NCAA rules because it is an inducement. GU would be obligated to report the contact to the NCAA if it became aware of it. Such a contact could limit or terminate GU's ability to recruit and/or sign the HS kid you called. Normal legal "sense" and NCAA rule logic are mutually exclusive. As Gonzaga's compliance officer has told me, "One of the hardest duties of the compliance office is to be responsible for people we have no idea even exist. Just the way it is, though."

You have to love the Gonzaga fan. Not satisfied to be affronted merely by common hosings at the hands of ragtag referees, he plows all avenues of discontent. - John Blanchette

Gonzaga University...Home of the Zags...The Bulldogs. If you pronounce it "Gone Zaw Ga," they'll know you're not from here and they may charge you more for your coffee. - Garrison Keillor

Ncaa

My daughter participated in an NCAA sport while at GU. The NCAA and GU sent us various thick envelopes of rules and regulations detailing what we could and could not do during her tenure as an athlete at GU. Some of the rules seemed logical (no bribing players to shave points) and others pretty obscure - like when and where I could treat my daughter to dinner, and whether she or I could invite any of her teammates as my guest, etc.. etc.

I share your skepticism about whether the NCAA could/should hold GU responsible for wacky rants of blog participants such as myself, but why would a GU supporter want to test the limits of NCAA authority? Better safe and sane than sorry.

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

As JAG pointed out, (on a similar note at least) what's stopping anybody here from contacting all of GU's top recruits "on behalf of" every other school that's courting them? These rules make no sense.

I have a feeling that the NCAA, in cooperation with those other schools and their own fan sites (usually on recruiting networks), would eventually uncover that an imposter is involved. They would see a pattern after interviewing the recruits, their coaches, site admins/moderators, etc. For one thing, no poster would be able to get away with acquiring the contact info of every recruit that a school is recruiting, and be able to interview those recruits, without having to present some credentials at some point ("I'm Jerry Meyer from rivals.com," etc..). Many (not all) of these recruits have been properly instructed by coaches not to give interviews detailing their recruitment without getting credentials first.

All I know is that I have never heard of an imposter trying to pull off something like this, although I am certain that a fan or two have contemplated doing such a thing....especially if they have it in for another school.

The rules don't have to make sense to be enforced - to the detriment of the GU athletic team, and to the reputation of Gonzaga as an ethical participant in the NCAA. The NCAA is a notoriously humorless organization.

That's the larger point of this thread. The NCAA can make your life miserable if they want to. They have a lot of power behind their punch, even if some of their rules are totally nuts.

RALEIGH, N.C. -- College sports fans, be careful of the company you keep on Facebook.

You might get yourself -- and the program you support -- in trouble.

That was the lesson this week for Taylor Moseley, a North Carolina State freshman who expressed a common-enough opinion on campus when he started the Facebook group called "John Wall PLEASE come to NC STATE!!!!"

More than 700 people signed up for the group encouraging Wall -- a local standout and the nation's No. 1 basketball recruit -- to pick the Wolfpack by national signing day next week.

But the NCAA says such sites, and dozens more like them wooing Wall and other top recruits, violate its rules. More than just cheerleading boards, the NCAA says the sites are an attempt to influence the college choice of a recruit.

Moseley got a cease and desist letter from N.C. State's compliance director, Michelle Lee, warning of "further action" if he failed to comply. In an interview Friday, Lee said that people who act as boosters but fail to follow recruiting guidelines could face penalties such as being denied tickets or even being formally "disassociated" from the athletic program.